Reportedly, Melinda and Amanda had a lesbian romance which went sour. Amanda, 13, then turned her affection to 12-year-old Shanda. According to prosecutors, Melinda became obsessed with getting Shanda out of the picture and concocted a plan with the three girls to murder her.
Following Shanda's death, Paije says she discovered letters in her sister's room that detail Amanda and Shanda's sexual relationship. The letters also reveal that following that sexual experience, Shanda told Amanda that she wasn't interested in girls, but Amanda continued to persuade her repeatedly.
"Amanda was not going to have Shanda get away from her," Paije says. "She wanted that relationship, and she was going to do whatever she had to do to have that relationship. I feel, in my heart, if she would have quit pursuing my sister, my sister would not be dead today. She caused this. I blame Amanda Heavrin."
Amanda joins Dr. Phil in studio and vehemently denies that she pursued Shanda. "You can't molest somebody when [they] come to [you] first," Amanda says. "Shanda made the first move on me."
"Did you think that because she was 12 years old, that it wasn't a good idea?" Dr. Phil asks. However, Amanda says that she didn't do anything to Shanda that wasn't welcomed.
[AD]Dr. Phil takes issue with Amanda's smug attitude. "I would think you'd have a lot more compassion," he tells her of Shanda's grieving family.
Amanda says she is sorry about everything that has happened.
Jacque, watching backstage, believes that Amanda is insincere. She maintains that Amanda is trite and only concerned with herself. "Amanda is just as guilty, and just as culpable, as all the other four girls who went to prison. Amanda should have been right there with them. She knew Melinda was going to kill her. She did nothing to stop it. Even after she was shown the bloody trunk, she did nothing " absolutely nothing."